Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

This research takes an important initial step in understanding the process of how women entrepreneurs leverage and build upon their own resources both internally and externally that may be used in the future to identify market opportunities, confront industry and environmental changes, and seek new innovations for their businesses.

rural regions have many entrepreneurs, but they are not as engaged in high-value-added activities as their urban counterparts.

This US Department of Education-backed project has created a national network of community colleges with interest and expertise in new ways of providing entrepreneurship training and support.

The Virginia-based Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization — a group founded in 1987 that requires $1 million in annual sales before it will admit a business owner — now counts 95 U.S. members younger than 30 in its ranks.

“Many of the startups come from our technology, so we’ve done joint programs with [OCR] to help figure out how the university ca help them succeed,” WARF spokesperson Andy Cohn said. The new initiative, he said, would give companies easier access to existing resources spread around campus.

Fairbrother also advises against moving too quickly, especially if you have never run your own business. As he often tells people who want to work for themselves, ”Speed kills.”

While universities are having little troubling attracting donors, it’s proving more difficult to find professors with the right mix of academic and business credentials to teach in the growing number of entrepreneurship programs.

“Good companies can get funded from anywhere,”

The best parts about "The Last Best Place" are the small communities around the state. Living and making a living in Montana’s rural towns is not only possible – but also preferable.

On March 7, 2005, a one-day conference will be held to explore the “best practices” of state leaders in formulating initiatives that spur entrepreneurship and economic growth.